My Ten Commandment For Keeping My House Clean

So my house is never amazingly clean. It's more, I'd say, under control. Here are some rules I try to follow to keep my house from driving me crazy

I. When thou cannot clean thou shalt try for cleaner than it is

I have a little question I ask myself around here, "I don't have time to clean it, but can I make it cleaner than it is?" This could be wiping off the kitchen window with the dish rag. Will it be sparkling? No. But it will look a little better. I also wipe the stainless steel with a dish rag when I have to. That dang cleaner isn't always handy, and the stainless steel wipes were not my fave. I will rinse off the high chair tray in the sink, and leave it, soaking wet, on the stove to dry. And I will mop the bathroom sink with my hands whenever I notice it getting really dirty. It may end up a little sopping, but it will be cleaner than it was.

II. Thou shalt clean what you can when you can.

Another rule I follow is to wipe up spot when I can with whatever I can. Sometimes this means grabbing the closest rag, or wipe, in sight. If I have to use the dishrag on something unsanitary I just get out a new dishrag. If I empty a shelf, drawer, bag, garbage can, etc. I try to take the opportunity to clean as well. Moving furniture is always a 'fun' time to vacuum forgotten places and wipe down forgotten baseboards. If I see a spot I try to clean it if it is reasonably easy to do so. I can't catch everything, but I can take care of the things I can see when I see them.

III. Thou shalt keep wipes everywhere.

I love clean up wipes, and when clean up wipes aren't available I just use regular old baby wipes.

Sometimes my kids just need a little smudge wiped off their face that doesn't quite justify the use of a whole wipe or sometimes a rag has been used for one thing, but still has some life in it. I like to give everything the opportunity to be used to it's fullest extent, so I'll quickly glance around and look for some other messes that need cleaned. It usually ends up being the toilet. The toilet is always dirty.

IV. Thou shalt wipe it up when it happens, and rinse it off when you're done.

I like wipe up spills and messes when they happen. I wipe down tables and chairs when meals are over, and if I forget I'm usually cursing myself as I scrub off the crusted Malt O' Meal. I also like to rinse my plate as soon as I'm done eating. If I can't rinse them, or I forgot to rinse them, then I try to get them soaking some how.


V. Thou shalt find ways to clean while getting other things done.

Sometimes I can find little ways make things work for me while I'm working, like spraying the tub with bleach and lime away. Sometimes I'll spray my dining chairs with cleaner, let them soak, throw them in the shower, rinse them off and let them dry. Don't have time to iron. Somethings can be 'ironed' by getting it wet and laying it flat to dry. This is best used on small things like hem lines, sashes or collars.

VI. Thou shalt save what thy can for organizing purposes.

I have a little obsession with organizational things. I'm like a kid on Christmas each time I bring home new shoebox organizers. I have bought thing from Ikea for no other reason than it was an incredible ingenious object for organizing. I bring these things home and find I really have no use for them. I also save things: sturdy boxes, the packages that sheets and curtains come in, Tupperware that has lost its lid, clean Ziploc bags, etc. Then when an organizing project shows its face I pull them out and get to work.

VII. Thou shalt never put more on that thou are will to take off.

Whenever something feels especially hard, or annoying, to clean I ask myself, "why?" The answer is usually because there is too much to pull off, or pull out to get it clean. Take my shower for example. I hated to scrub the little shelf in my shower. Why? Because taking all those shampoo and soap bottles off was so tedious.

So what do I do? I bought a shower caddy or two. Now instead of 10 things to take down, I only have three.

I try to follow this rule with decorating and organizing drawers. Obviously it can become unavoidable.

VIII. Thou shalt keep things off the floor whenever possible.

I have a small obsession with hooks as well. I think I could fill my house with hooks of every kind. It's because I like to keep stuff off the floor. This just makes it easier to clean, vacuum, mop. Sometimes cleaning becomes so hard, and easy to put off, because small things become huge hindrances. One of these, to me, is the number of objects I have to pick up to do one simple chore.

Making the beds is another way to get things off the floor, and it creates a nice, clean surface area for getting other things done like laundry and organizing.

IX. Thou shalt love thy washer.

I love my washer. I know a lot of people really love the energy efficient ones. I like my regular old top loader with a middle agitator. Why? Because it makes cleaning a breeze. Once a month I'll throw in a load of rags and, while the washer fills up, I'll grab a clean rag and wipe stuff down. I'll clean off the dryer, scrub all the little nooks and cranny's I can reach, rinse off the rag in the washer when it gets too dirty and then when I'm all done I throw everything in the washer and let it do the rest.

X. Thou shalt give everything a place.

Cleaning is easier for me when everything has a place. If these places are too hard to reach all the time I find other places to put these things until a later date.

My laundry room is full of sorters for this reason, and to also follow commandment VIII.

Cleaning is so much less stressful when I can know for certain that everything I pick up as a predestined place to go.

Those are just some of the rules I follow to try and keep on top of things in this house. They're pretty basic, but they really help my stress levels stay down.